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			I flew over to Nassau in the spring and Steve and I sailed her back to the small WFY marina that is located behind my house. 
	
	<br />
It was an uneventful ride to Florida with light winds, good food and great conversation.<br/><br/>
 
We spent the summer months fixing up a few things on the Hunter like the floor under the AC unit. We also had the jib serviced and added a small solar array to give us another way of charging the batteries while under way or at anchor.<br/>
Steve uses his Hunter more for day-sailing than anything else and as I expected a mainly downwind sail to Panama, I didn’t push the addition of a nice but expensive dodger. Instead my brother-in-law (an old friend and sail maker) and I designed and built “The Ducker”.<br/><br/>
 
The concept of a ducker was not new to me. I had made makeshift protection for the helmsman on many occasions over the years. (“Hey Mark, I got socked on watch last night!” “Ya, I know. It’s the Ducker not a Dodger,” was always my reply.)

	<br/><br/>
 
Brother-in-law Bill, had some great ideas: we would get a piece of clear vinyl, piece it together with Gorilla tape, put grommets along the sides and at each corner. Then we could attach it to the handrails forward of the companionway hatch and tie it to the front of the bimini frame.<br/><br/>
 
I won’t go more into the construction details, but in the end it turned into a 7X7 square of clear vinyl that was stronger and gave more shelter than I had dared to hope for. This was a good thing as the fickle winds of the Caribbean gave us at least 500 miles of upwind sailing, some of it in less than ideal conditions. What was not up wind was in winds of 30+ knots.<br/><br/>
 
I am pleased to say that the Ducker stood up to the task valiantly. This is a testament to American engineering and Gorilla tape! (Don’t leave home with out it!!!)<br/><br/>
 
We were able to leave Florida with a good weather window and so made it to Nassau in record time - less than a day and a half!<br/>
Dr. Bob joined us for the first leg of the voyage but he had to get back to North Carolina to operate on someone   so he could not stay for the whole voyage.<br/><br/>
 
My associate Bill Regan’s wife “Tricia” who had never made this type of passage before, came to substitute for Dr. Bob, and joined us in Nassau.<br/><br/>
 
The trip to Nassau was as uneventful as the Gulfstream can sometimes be; it pays to wait and watch the weather. Tricia, Dr. Bob, Bill and I were all on board for the next few 100 miles across the banks to the Exumas and then over to Cat Island. By now the weather had turned easterly –as expected- so it was slow going. All this upwind sailing turned up a flaw in the mainsail that I had not noticed before - “Leach Flutter!”<br/>
The leach would flutter so badly that the whole rig would shake uncontrollably. This is not a good thing... In fact the rig shook so badly that it shook the pin, which allows the sail to be furled into the mast, right out of the main furler.<br/><br/>
 
OK we have to do something about this!<br/><br/>
 
Fortunately, the “Maestro” was at home! As I have mentioned before, The “Maestro” refers to my good friend and long time sailing companion Dave Calvert. Among Dave’s many talents is his main gig as ‘Sail maker Extraordinaire’! (If you race Corsair Trimarans and you often win, there is a good chance you have Dave’s sails on board.)<br/><br/>
 
Dave has moved to Cat Island where he has built a lovely home on a south-facing beach over looking the Atlantic Ocean.  What an incredible view. It would be hard to imagine a more idyllic location.<br/><br/>
 
The day was spent replacing the pin in the furler. Not an easy feat as it required dexterous and steady hands. Bill proffered these.<br/><br/>
 
Next, the main sail was taken ashore and we all descended upon it with gusto. Ripping seams, measuring the panels and then setting the Maestro to his machine to put it all back together.<br/>
The wind blew so hard for the next few days that we could not re-hoist the sail but Sunday dawned clear and calm. The sail was hoisted and furled, furled and unfurled. Small adjustments were made and by 9 AM we were underway, bound for Panama.<br/><br/>
 
We motored most of the day but by early evening we found ourselves close hauled in a steadily building easterly. By midnight it was blowing 20kts! No problem, this wind is supposed to back to the NE and then we will really get moving. This became our Mantra!<br/><br/>
 
Indeed the wind did eventually back but not before we got to the Windward Passage. And when it did back it blew. Certainly there were gusts of close to 40kts but mostly a steady 30kts. Going through the northern part of the passage, we surfed almost dead down wind often seeing over 11kts on the GPS. By evening we had sailed into the lee of Haiti and were motoring slowly toward Navassa Island.<br/><br/>

The next day started calmly enough but by mid afternoon the wind had picked up to 20+ kts out of the east seas and it was running about 10 feet on the beam. Now we were on our way.<br/>
“Hey, when the wind backs a bit we can really get moving.”<br/>
Well the wind did increase but only hinted at backing. In fact, because of the boat speed, the apparent wind was often forward of the beam.  OK not so bad, but the lively little Hunter was wet and uncomfortable. Thanks to the Ducker we were not nearly as wet as we might have been, although it is arguable that you can’t get any wetter than wet!<br/><br/>
 
(The four stages of wet:<br/><br/>
1 Wet from head to foot<br/>
2 Soaking wet<br/>
3 Wringing wet<br/>
4 Wet to the bone)<br/><br/>
 
The next 4 days were spent praying for the wind to back and watch the now 15 foot waves march on along with the occasional one breaking on our beam slewing us around and sending huge columns of spray up into the air. I found it amazing that at least 99% of this spray would hit the boat, and over 75% of this would land in the cockpit. Only a mere 1% was seen to land harmlessly elsewhere!<br/><br/>
 
Saturday (Day 6) dawned overcast with the wind moderating and backing slightly. This was the day that fools you into thinking that it is all worthwhile! Sailors are so gullible!!!<br/>
Day 7 dawned with what seemed like half of the world’s ships anchored in front of us. This must be Panama!!!!

			
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